Man, unable to get formal education himself, turns mosque into school in remote Pakistani village 

In this undated photo, children gather outside a mosque turned into a makeshift school in South Waziristan tribal district, Pakistan. (Photo credit: Haji Muhammad)
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Updated 11 November 2021
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Man, unable to get formal education himself, turns mosque into school in remote Pakistani village 

  • Hajji Muhammad started teaching two students at his home in South Waziristan, moved classes to mosque after student numbers swelled
  • Appeals to government and rich residents of South Waziristan to help him upgrade school, senior district administration says will extend help 

TORMANDI, South Waziristan: Hajji Muhammad’s hometown of Tormandi in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district lacks electricity and stable mobile and Internet services and has poor road infrastructure. 
The dusty village in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has also never had a school — a problem that Muhammad found an innovative solution for four years ago, when he set up a makeshift school inside a one-room mosque. The facility currently schools 120 children, including 40 girls, who study in two three-hour-long shifts. Muhammad is the only teacher and hopes the district administration and rich residents of the district will help him upgrade the facility. 
“It was very troubling for me to see children just loitering around, spending time climbing trees or taking cattle for grazing to the hillside,” Muhammad told Arab News, describing the state of affairs before he launched the mosque-school. 




Haji Muhammad, a teacher who turned his village mosque into a school, can be seen with his students in this undated photo in Tormandi, South Waziristan. (Photo courtesy: Haji Muhammad)

The 31-year-old, who didn’t receive a formal education himself, moved with his family to Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub of Pakistan, in 2008 after army offensives aimed at wiping out militants based in the region forced thousands of people out of South Waziristan. 
During his stay in Karachi, Muhammad studied privately and completed his matriculation in 2014, after which he started teaching primary school children as well as offering home tuitions to students in Karachi. In 2016, he moved back to his hometown and started tutoring two students at his tiny village home. But as the number of students multiplied, Muhammad decided to move his classes to the village mosque where he has been teaching Urdu, English and Mathematics to grades 1 to 4 since 2017. 
Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region — comprising seven districts including the restive South Waziristan district, and six towns — was collectively called the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and governed by colonial era tribal laws for over 150 years. 
In 2009, the region was overrun by Taliban militants as war raged in neighboring Afghanistan, pushing the Pakistani military to launch armed operations that triggered a mass exodus of locals and forced thousands out of schools. 
Educational institutes were either destroyed or taken over by militants in the early 2000s, and the literacy rate plunged to 10.5 percent for girls and 36.66 percent for boys in the region, according to 2014 data from the then FATA Secretariat. 
In 2018, the region was merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and education came under the control of the provincial government. But the process of reform has been a slow one. 
Around 58 percent of children aged between four and 14 years remained out of schools in the region, according to 2017-18 data from the KP elementary and secondary education department. 




In this undated photo, children in South Waziristan tribal district, Pakistan. (Photo credit: Haji Muhammad)

More recent data was unavailable.

Hafiz Ibrahim, a senior official at the KP Education Directorate, told Arab News a survey to assess the state of education, including the literacy rate and missing facilities at educational institutions, was currently being carried out by his department throughout the tribal areas. The survey will be made public within a month, he added. 
“Currently, all facts and figures into erstwhile FATA’s literacy are baseless. We’ve initiated a seamless survey to know about the ground realities into the state of education there,” Ibrahim said. “I’ll be in a position to tell you about male and female literacy rate once the survey is completed.” 
In August last year, the provincial government also kicked off a province-wide drive to enroll 800,000 out-of-school children and allocated Rs3 billion for the purpose. 
Qadeem Marwat, the South Waziristan district education officer (DEO), told Arab News the seasonal migration of locals, coupled with a precarious security situation, caused fluctuation in the number of students enrolled at educational institutions in the district. 




Children in this undated photo attend a class inside a mosque turned into a school in South Waziristan tribal district, Pakistan. (Photo credit: Haji Muhammad)

“For example, last year we had 85,000 plus enrolled students but this year that number decreased to 57,000 students, including 25,000 girls,” Marwat said. “The situation is challenging, but ... we are working to convince parents to enroll their children with us.” 
Ijaz Akhtar, a senior district administration official, said the local government, in collaboration with the education department, would approach Muhammad and extend all possible support to him in his mission. 
“I’ll coordinate with the education department,” he said, “to visit the area, meet the children and elders to identify their problems.” 
For now, Muhammad says he has knocked at every door in his village to request people to help him build a school — but with no luck. Some of the younger students he has taught were promoted to higher grades and had to move to other parts of the province and country to continue their education. 
This week a local organization donated stationery to the school and Muhammad said the district administration had pledged to give him furniture after completing paperwork.
“I appeal to the government and well-off people,” he said, “to extend a helping hand and provide some monthly stipend as I have parents and two children to feed.”


Pakistan committee discusses development of border areas in inaugural session

Updated 04 May 2024
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Pakistan committee discusses development of border areas in inaugural session

  • The committee was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in Pakistan’s border regions
  • Key topics that came under discussion at the inaugural session included tariff rationalization, employment creation

ISLAMABAD: A high-level committee tasked with development of Pakistan’s border regions on Saturday held its inaugural session in Islamabad to discuss the challenges facing communities based in the country’s frontier regions, the Pakistani commerce ministry said.

The inaugural session of the committee, which was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in these areas, was presided over by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, according to the ministry.

Key topics that came under discussion at the meeting included tariff rationalization and employment creation, reflecting the committee’s commitment to addressing border communities’ challenges.

“The committee aims to present its recommendations to the Prime Minister within 10 days, signaling a promising start to collaborative efforts for socio-economic development in the region,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan shares a long, porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, with people live along it relying on cross-border trade with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies or prohibitions.

Islamabad last year announced restrictions on the informal trade to discourage smuggling of goods and currency in order to support the country’s dwindling economy.

Pakistan’s trade with China mostly takes place through formal channels, while the country’s trade ties with India, another neighbor it shares border with, remain suspended since 2019 over the disputed region of Kashmir.


Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years — weather agency

Updated 04 May 2024
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Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years — weather agency

  • Pakistan’s metrology department says April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, ‘excessively above’ the normal average of 22.5 millimeters
  • There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the ‘wettest April since 1961’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency said in a report.

April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said late Friday in its monthly climate report.

There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the “wettest April since 1961.”

Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.

In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.

“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said while commenting on the report.

While much of Asia is sweltering dure to heat waves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.


Fire erupts at Karachi garment factory, no loss of live reported

Updated 04 May 2024
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Fire erupts at Karachi garment factory, no loss of live reported

  • The biggest Pakistani city, known for poor fire safety protocols, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually
  • In November last year, a blaze at a shopping mall in Karachi killed around a dozen people and injured several others

KARACHI: A fire broke out at a garment factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday, rescue officials said.

The blaze erupted on the ground floor of the garment factory in Zarina Colony in the New Karachi area, according to Rescue 1122 service.

“One fire truck is actively participating in the operation,” a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said, adding that another fire tender has been called to the site.

No loss of life has been reported in the wake of the fire.

Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the main commercial hub, is home to hundreds of thousands of industrial units and some of the tallest buildings in the South Asian country. 

The megapolis, known for its fragile firefighting system and poor safety controls, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually.

In Nov., a blaze at a shopping mall killed around a dozen people and injured several others. In April last year, four firefighters died and nearly a dozen others were injured after a fire broke out at a garment factory, while 10 people were killed in a massive fire at a chemical factory in the city in August 2021. 

In the deadliest such incident, 260 people were killed in 2012 after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out.


Saleem Haider Khan, Faisal Kundi named governors of Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces

Updated 04 May 2024
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Saleem Haider Khan, Faisal Kundi named governors of Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces

  • Nominations come as part of power-sharing deal between PM Sharif’s party and ex-FM Bhutto-Zardari-led faction
  • According to the deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for constitutional positions

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, has nominated Saleem Haider Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi as governors of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the PPP chairman announced on Friday.

The PPP forged an alliance with PM Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after Pakistan’s national election on February 8 failed to present a clear winner.

According to the power-sharing deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for the presidency, chairman of Senate and other important constitutional positions.

In a post on X, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari congratulated Khan and Kundi, and extended his good wishes to them

“I am confident they [Khan and Kundi] will perform their duties with the dignity their new office demands,” he said on X.

In Pakistan, a governor is a representative of the state to a province, who is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

Such positions may seem ceremonial and symbolic, but they do hold significant constitutional importance.

At present, PML-N’s Balighur Rehman has been serving as the Punjab governor, while JUI-F’s Hajji Ghulam Ali holds the post in KP.

Bhutto-Zardari also called on PM Sharif in Islamabad, following the nominations, Pakistani state media reported.

“During the meeting, views were exchanged on overall political situation in the country and matters of national interest,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster said.


Pakistan Cricket Board confirms details of national side’s South Africa tour

Updated 04 May 2024
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Pakistan Cricket Board confirms details of national side’s South Africa tour

  • The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia in Nov.
  • The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced details of the Pakistan men’s cricket team’s tour of South Africa for three Twenty20, three one-day international and two Test matches in the second half of 2024.

Durban, Centurion, and Johannesburg will host the T20Is from December 10-14, according to the PCB. The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, while the two ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 matches will be held at Centurion (December 26-30) and Cape Town (January 3-7).

The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia on November 19, having featured in a series of three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4-18. After completing their African safari on January 8, Pakistan will take on New Zealand and South Africa in a three-nation ODI tournament on home turf, which will be followed by the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.

“Prior to the tours of Australia and South Africa, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for two and three Tests, respectively,” the PCB said in a statement. “This means they will play seven Tests, minimum of 10 ODIs, and six T20Is in the six-month period from August 2024 to January 2025.”

This will be Pakistan’s seventh Test tour of South Africa since 1994-95. Their two Test wins were in the 1997-98 and 2006-2007 series.

In the Durban Test in 1997-98, Pakistan won by 29 runs at the back of centuries from Azhar Mahmood (132) and Saeed Anwar (118), match figures of nine for 149 by Mushtaq Ahmed and a first innings five-fer by Shoaib Akhtar. In the 2006-2007 Port Elizabeth Test, Pakistan won by five wickets with Inzamam-ul-Haq being named as Player of the Match for his 92 in the first innings.

In ODIs, Pakistan has won two of the last three series in 2013-2014 and 2020-21, while South Africa triumphed in 2002-2003 (4-1), 2006-2007 (3-1), 2012-2013 (3-2), and 2018-2019 (3-2).

In 12 T20Is to date, Pakistan leads 6-5 in head-to-head encounters, with one match ending in no-result.

Tour schedule:

10 Dec – 1st T20I, Durban

13 Dec – 2nd T20I, Centurion

14 Dec – 3rd T20I, Johannesburg

17 Dec – 1st ODI, Paarl

19 Dec – 2nd ODI, Cape Town

22 Dec – 3rd ODI, Johannesburg

26-30 Dec – 1st Test, Centurion

3-7 Jan – 2nd Test, Cape Town